How Temperature Changes Impacts Locks
The operation of metal-based locks can easily be affected by temperature changes.
Why? As the metal expands or contracts during cooling and heat.
Today the GTA Lockman Mobile Locksmith Toronto experts are here to provide you with all the details as to why this can happen.
Why Hot Weather Affects Locks
When the weather is warm, a door expands, making it difficult for you to turn the lock or even fully stick.
This happens mainly with a closed deadbolt lock compressed within the door as the doorframe swells out.
It also occurs with a wooden exterior door and door frames as the wood expands and contracts with temperature shifts.
Why Cold Weather Affects Locks
With cooler weather, a door frame and door contracts and happens mostly to wooden doors to door frames.
Hence, it becomes difficult to turn the key in the deadbolt.
It is easily fixed when you pull the door handle from outside as it helps recenter the lock in the doorframe.
Temperature Shifts With Car Locks
As with exterior building doors, the cold weather affects your car locks when moisture gets trapped inside and freezes.
Hence, turning the lock or even using your car remote to open it is impossible.
The best is to heat up the key using an open flame before you insert it in the lock.
If you use a remote start option, heating up your car and leaving the engine running for a couple of minutes will unfreeze the lock.
Changing Temperature Lock Concerns
When installing any lock, it helps to work with a professional locksmith.
The locksmith ensures that the locks are perfectly fitted to your House or the building’s doorframe.
For wooden exterior doors and doorframes, it helps to swap them out with durable options that are weather and temperature-shift-resistant.
These include steel, aluminum, and fiberglass.
It is helpful to oil locks as it helps with weather changes, but it may also need periodic lock disassemblies.
Furthermore, always try to keep the lock dry and ensure that overhangs, eaves, and gutter are working correctly and are kept clean.
Doing this helps to keep moisture away from the door.
